


A Trusted Friend

by atenaglory



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Humor, Mass Effect 2, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-16 05:06:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7253671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atenaglory/pseuds/atenaglory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shepard isn't one for girl talk, so Tali has to extract information from her forcefully, through straight-up torture. Well, it feels like torture to Shepard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Trusted Friend

Shepard was at a loss. She’d really done it. How many galaxy-altering decisions had she been entrusted with and made without hesitating? And finally she’d screwed up _now_?

But Garrus had told that story and she had seen her opportunity and… Well Shepard was known for many a virtue, but tact was unfortunately not one of them. She wondered if Garrus was as confused as she was. His reaction (the phrase “why the hell not” would haunt her for the rest of her days) was just as… vague as her suggestion had been. Because of that, she hadn’t been able to ask Garrus if they were doing this as friends, or…?

So now they were in this awkward friends-with-benefits type of phase. “Friends with benefits”? Not Shepard’s style at _all_. Shepard was definitely a hit it and quit it kind of girl. Or, committed relationships…? Well, as an orphan-turned-soldier, she hadn’t had a lot of time for any more than flings, but that “friends with benefits” nonsense was definitely too half-assed for her. And either way, Garrus couldn’t be a fling. For starters, he was too much of a romantic. The night before they hit the Omega 4 Relay? That had to be the most sentimental thing Shepard had ever heard in real life. This definitely couldn’t be a one night stand with _that_ kind of attitude.

But jokes aside, Shepard had to admit that she sincerely didn’t want it to be a one night stand. What could she do about that, though? Every time she tried to bring it up, he started flailing like he had no idea what was happening, and she couldn’t help but grin at him because of how adorable he was in this context. Especially compared to how he was on the battlefield. When he acted like that, she instinctively gave him a sly smirk, realizing that it made him sweat.

And so, instead of trying to talk to him about what was on her mind, she had taken to teasing him. It had started small, just an extra unnecessary invitation to compete, whether at headshots or eating speed, bragging for longer than normal when winning said competitions. But over time she began to notice that her attitude toward him had completely changed. She immediately started smiling when she saw him, and her voice would get lower, playful in a slightly sexier way than she actually intended. She had also gotten more physical, although not entirely consciously and usually not in front of anyone else. She would brush her hands against his or bump into him, and do silly things like reaching up and hooking a hand in the collar of his armor. She also stood closer to him than to most people while talking, and sat close to him in relaxed social settings where more people were involved. And though the proximity and contact made him clearly nervous, he didn’t shy away, much like when she had initially brought up the “tie-breaker”.

But eventually, despite Shepard’s attempts at self-control, her change in attitude towards Garrus was noticed.

“Ah, Shepard,” Tali said surprisingly enthusiastically upon seeing Shepard approach her in engineering one day.

“Tali! You’re in a good mood.”

“Not as good as you, I’m sure!” Before Shepard could react, she gestured toward the catwalk to the drive core and said, “Step into my office.”

Shepard laughed. “Your office, huh?”

“The most private place we’ve got down here,” Tali shrugged.

“So let me guess,” Shepard began when they’d reached the panel at the end of the walkway. “The dextro food is so unbearable that you and Garrus are finally giving me my last warning before a full-scale revolt?”

“Hmm… yes. But not in this particular conversation. It _is_ about Garrus, though!”

Shepard’s smile froze in place for only a second. She wondered if Tali had noticed. The current crew of the SR-2 might not have, but Tali had been with her for longer than the rest of them, Garrus excluded.

“What about him?” Shepard recovered quickly. Too quickly to be noticed, right? Tali’s eyes narrowed into a grin.

“So how long has that been going on, then?”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to be more specific,” Shepard said stubbornly.

“Joker taught me a human phrase that I think I can use here. When did you ‘hit that’?”

“Hey! Vulgar? What else has Joker been teaching you?”

“The funky fresh human slang that I’ve been studying has nothing to do with this, Shepard.”

“Old enough to smell funky, but definitely not any kind of fresh… And anyway, I haven’t ‘ _hit_ ’ anything!”

“What! You mean you guys haven’t…” She trailed off when Shepard gave her a look.

“Then what, he hasn’t noticed that you’re interested? Everyone else has!”

“I know I’m not the most subtle person, but _everyone_ hasn’t noticed, Tali.” She hoped that she was calling Tali’s bluff. Everyone hadn’t noticed, had they?

To Shepard’s horror, Tali simply said, “Follow me,” and walked toward the elevator.

They went up to the third floor and first entered Kasumi’s lounge.

“Tali, Shepard! Good to see you,” Kasumi greeted them.

“Hi Kasumi. So listen—“

But before Tali could start, Shepard, remembering a conversation she’d had with Kasumi shortly after propositioning Garrus, said, “Talking to Kasumi doesn’t prove anything, she’s a spy!”

Kasumi giggled and said, “Remember what I told you!”

On their way out, Tali and Shepard heard Kasumi murmuring, “A spy… I like it!”

“How about this, then,” Tali said when they had exited, gesturing toward Life Support. Shepard gave her the ultimate look of skepticism, but touched the lock button to enter.

Thane turned when they entered, as hearing two sets of footsteps was unusual. He looked surprised.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” He greeted them.

“I have a question, Thane,” Tali said.

“Go ahead.”

“Do you think that Commander Shepard is interested in any romantic attachment?”

Thane’s expression softened. “Garrus is a lucky man. I wish you the best of luck, Commander. Finding such happiness in these times is a blessing.”

Shepard thanked him through her chagrin. Thane’s comment had been genuine, and she did appreciate it.

Following that pattern, they went around the third floor and Tali coaxed opinions on the commander’s love life out of their squadmates. Samara’s reaction was similar to Thane’s, with a kind smile and best wishes. Miranda smirked in spite of herself, before informing Shepard that, “Though there aren’t any strict rules against relations on a Cerberus vessel, I’m obligated to advise you to take caution, Commander, so as not to disrupt the work flow on this extremely important mission.” She barely got through her warning before stifling a laugh. Dr. Chakwas gave Tali a knowing look, and then advised Shepard to have a chat with Mordin. Mordin was so _Mordin_ about the whole embarrassing ordeal, as well as the bizarre idea of interspecies sex, that it would have been downright hilarious had Shepard not been completely mortified. Jacob awkwardly declined to speak about the subject, citing his usual wishes to keep things professional, but couldn’t help jabbing her with, “But I guess I’m here if you need boy advice, Commander.” Tali burst out laughing at that, but the most Shepard would do was glare and use her Commander voice to threaten, “I’ll remember this, Taylor.” He saluted her with a grin in response.

Shepard finally broke when Tali expressed her excitement about Jack’s opinion in the elevator.

“Alright, Tali, I get it!”

“So are you going to tell me what’s going on between you two?”

“Okay, just not—how does _everybody_ know that something’s going on?”

“You said yourself that you’re not the most subtle person around, Shepard.”

Shepard sighed before jabbing the button for her cabin. She and Tali entered the room silently, Shepard in the lead. She walked over to the couches by her bed and dropped down into a couch in a most un-commander-like way. Tali looked down at her, before taking a seat in the other couch.

“So Garrus and I… talked.”

“You _talked_?”

“About, um… Us.”

“So you’re together, but keeping it a secret so that you don’t distract the crew?”

“Not quite.”

“’Not quite’? Shepard, just spit it out!”

“Alright, alright! I think we’re still friends, but we decided to, uh… _spend some time together_ the night before the Omega 4 Relay.”

“Garrus suggested that, didn’t he? Keelah, he’s so sentimental.”

“I know! But what else can you expect from someone who tried to clean up Omega with vigilante justice? I mean, who is he, Batman?”

“ _What_ -man?”

“Never mind. Anyway, that was the only thing he was sure of. Otherwise, we haven’t really talked about it… or anything…”

“So instead, you’re flirting with him nonstop, making everyone in a ten mile radius uncomfortable.”

“I know,” Shepard whined. Was this the commander or somebody’s lost puppy? “But what can I do? Every time I try to talk to him one-on-one, he starts acting all awkward and cute.”

“Ugh, okay, listen. How about this: maybe you two shouldn’t talk about it right now, after all. Neither of you seems ready to talk, right? But you both want to go through with it?”

“Right.”

“Well, just go ahead, and if you’re lucky you’ll both die when we hit the Collectors and you’ll never have to talk about it!”

“ _Tali_.” Commander Shepard had returned, though she was still sprawled out on the couch.

“Only joking! Anyway, I didn’t want to stress you out—”

“Which is why you humiliated me in front of my whole crew—”

“I just wanted you to tell me what was happening.”

Shepard looked down.

“Shepard, you’re my captain. I’m so proud to be Tali’Zorah vas Normandy, and I will never let anyone use that title against me again. But am I not also your friend?”

Shepard sat up, looking back up at Tali.

“You know I’m not used to confiding in people, Tali.”

“I’m not asking you to confide in people, Shepard. But don’t you trust me enough to just talk to me? Doesn’t sharing this with someone feel even a little nice?”

Shepard nodded once.

“Plus,” Tali said, a sly tone creeping into her voice. “It would be nice to have some notice before you guys have me third-wheeling.”

“Another phrase you learned from Joker?”

“Please, Shepard. Every society understands the loneliness, the agony of being a third wheel.”

The added drama in her voice made Shepard laugh. But Tali was right. It _did_ feel good to talk to someone about how she felt, especially since she couldn’t seem to talk to Garrus. She was glad that Tali had returned to her crew. She was glad to be with Tali’Zorah vas Normandy.

**Author's Note:**

> If you don't get anything else from this, please just remember how it felt to imagine Tali saying "funky fresh".


End file.
